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The Impact of the Delta Variant on the World of Talent and Work

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Throughout 2020, businesses across the globe waited with bated breath for the development of a medical marvel to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Up until late year, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were the best (and only) way to stop the spread of the coronavirus. When Pfizer was the first Big Pharma firm to hit its vaccine home run, both the business and personal sides of our personas were exalted with joy and relief.

We’re now seven months into the most critical vaccination campaign in history, and, once again, the slithering coronavirus is continuing to wreak havoc. Once a “variant of interest,” the “Delta variant,” much like its predecessors (Alpha, etc.) has become the dominant strain of the virus across the world. In the United States, which just recently experienced an incredible decline in cases alongside millions of vaccinations per day, has now seen yet another sharp uptick in cases and hospitalizations due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant, which suggests is as easily spreadable as the chicken pox (which is, in non-scientific terms, not good). Just a little over a month ago, the seven-day moving average of cases hovered around 12,000. Today, that same seven-day moving average has hit 72,000.

All of this essentially means one thing: within the next several weeks, people are either 1) going to be vaccinated, or, 2) going to contract the Delta variant. The big ideas around the summer being a time of reopening, celebration, and a return to normalcy have all been thrown into a tailspin, especially knowing that this variant results in more frequent breakthrough cases and can possibly be spread by even the vaccinated population. The question, though, remains: what does it mean for business?

Many organizations have been pivoting and adapting for so long that it remains an easy decision on how to spin their reopening or “return to the office” plans; these enterprises can effectively continue doing whatever they have been doing, whether it’s continuing a fully-remote work model or leveraging the power of the hybrid model. In most cases, these business leaders have already have the foundational tools to weather the next several weeks. However, for those businesses that have struggled or have spent the past few weeks touting a “big return,” what should be the plan of attack?

  • First and foremost, base whichever workplace strategy on science and data. It’s too easy for executives to base summer strategies on country or global data and make decisions from there. The CDC did have a more pointed line of thinking with mask mandates, though, as it relates to the spread of the Delta variant: for individuals in “high prevalence” areas, masks should be worn indoors regardless of vaccination status. In those counties with “low prevalence,” masks for vaccinated persons can be left up to the individual. The same should apply for the business mindset with a pinch of salt: utilize the county-level, data-based approach but understand that workers may be traveling from further regions that are in areas of higher prevalence. And, also understand that with cases surging in nearly 70% of the United States, it may only be a matter of time before we’re all re-masking in indoor settings once again.
  • Safety must be paramount, no matter the strategy. It can be incredibly disheartening (and exhausting) to have to reissue mask mandates and social distancing awareness within an office after a few months of relaxed guidelines. The good news throughout all of this (as I read in a New York Times newsletter on Friday morning) is that the Delta variant’s anticipated surge in the UK never truly occurred, petering out at 25% of its estimated peak before settling back to the mean. Owed to increased transmissibility, the sheer volume of inoculated individuals, and the continued mysteries around this novel coronavirus, we may (hopefully) not experience the same type of surge we saw in the winter months (when cases were hitting 250,000/day). However, workplace safety must be paramount, and if business leaders must reissue mask mandates even for those vaccinated, or, alternatively, continue in remote or hybrid settings, it will ensure that physical well-being remains a priority.
  • Focus on empathy and flexibility as continued strategies. For some regions, working parents are about to send their kids back to the second school year under pandemic culture. For others, the Delta variant remains a cause for concern for workers that are immunocompromised or live with immunocompromised individuals. Adding in yet another layer of stress can be deficient to worker productivity if there is unease regarding a return to a physical location, so business leaders and managers must continue to focus on their empathy-led direction and be flexible in how units and professionals choose to get work done. It’s been nearly 18 months of adaptability…what’s a few more weeks? Or a couple more months? By now, we know what works in remote settings and what does not. For many professionals, even being around disruptive home life has resulted in the best possible levels of productivity and an enhanced work-life balance. This mode of thinking must cascade up to the leadership suite: continue being flexible in how work gets done, continue to lead with empathy, and, most importantly, be aware of worker well-being and their emotions.
  • Broach the great vaccination debate and stick to a plan. It has been proven that privately-owned businesses can mandate vaccinations for their workers. Before the emergency use-authorized vaccines were actually available, this was a discussion that had started to gain steam by both those who believed that vaccinations were the only way out of this pandemic versus those who were vehemently against a series of vaccines that were developed in record time. This debate has raged on for months now, with many individuals wary of the three EUA-approved jabs or downright against the very concept of them due to longstanding (and incorrect) beliefs that COVID-19 was nothing more than a hoax. With so many heartbreaking stories of younger individuals being intubated and realizing that it did not have to come to such measures if they had only been vaccinated, the scientific truth is that Delta’s transmissibility will seek out those who are not inoculated and wreak havoc. Business leaders are in a tough position: do they mandate vaccinations as a condition of employment for the sake of science and safety but risk alienating workers that do not want to be told to be vaccinated, or, allow workers to decide for themselves and possibly risk a local surge that could be incredibly disruptive to business operations? No matter the decision here, leaders cannot waffle; if the mandate is the best way to move forward, stick to this plan and ensure that workers have all of the support they need, be it time off to receive the shot, an extra day to deal with possible side effects, etc. Empathy here, as always, will be helpful in executing such a plan.
  • Above all else, the power of communication will be key. Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, one of the worst ramifications on professionals and workers was an overwhelming feeling of anxiety sparked by uncertainty. Business leaders cannot muddle through decision-making and cause panic or worry amongst the workforce. They need to use this time, especially as science continues to uncover the continued possibilities of vaccination breakthroughs (and whether those who have been jabbed can spread the virus as robustly as those who are unvaccinated), and clearly communicate short-term plans with their teams. Inform that changing environments may delay reopening plans and that the executive team is keen on science and data in designing the next wave of back-to-office planning. For workers, knowing that they will be in a remote or hybrid environment for several more weeks can alleviate some of that anxiety and ensure that they can focus on being productive.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to throw curveballs at us. It’s a novel virus that has mysterious consequences and an uncertain origin. The last thing anyone should expect at this point is a premature declaration of victory. What’s so much different today than last year is that we have actual tools in highly-efficacious vaccines that prevent the worst possible scenarios of COVID while allowing those who are vaccinated some small semblance of normalcy.

Businesses have been stuck in a perpetual cycle of change, adaptation, and uncertainty. Looking across the country (and other regions around the glove), tourism is nearly back to where it was pre-pandemic. The global economy is nearing early 2020 levels, as well. The speed of destruction caused by the Delta variant, however, could very well result in some rigid restrictions that we thought were gone for good. However, if the path ahead, especially over the course of the next month or two, means that businesses have to pause office reopenings and stick to what has worked best over the past 18 months, well, then, they know exactly what to do and how to do it.

The Future of Work movement has long been predicated on evolution, flexibility, and change. The concepts behind the Future of Work’s core principles were ideal accelerants for a business world begging for change and progression. Delta is taking its best shot right now and flaring up cases across the world and especially within the United States. It’s certainly exasperating to go from the highs of millions of vaccinations per day to a 700% increase in daily cases, however, businesses have been resilient throughout the past several months and there should be no expectation that this will change however long Delta continues to blaze through the hopeful final months of the biggest public health crisis of our lifetime.

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The Transformation of the Agile Workforce

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingHRSolution ProvidersTalentTalent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Last year, Ardent Partners predicted that the global business landscape would experience a sharp uptick in the utilization of non-employee labor as a direct result of the pandemic’s sweeping impact on business and human interaction. Going into 2020, 43.5% of the average organization’s total workforce was considered “contingent.” In 2021, that number sits at nearly 47%, and there are strong indications that this percentage will grow as the transformation of talent and work continues forward.

Additionally, upcoming Future of Work Exchange research finds that 82% of all businesses state that the challenging times of 2020 created a bigger need for extended and non-employee talent. The past 12 months have clearly revealed that workforce scalability is an essential link to economic survival in the now-chaotic, hyper-competitive world of global business. Operationalizing that scalability is the very root of workforce agility, from which businesses can tap into talent pools, marketplaces, clouds, and communities to enhance the work done by the trusted FTE workers, and a range of services and other recruitment streams to build, in real time, a dynamic response to a crucial enterprise initiative. The contingent workforce has become the foundation of workforce scalability, and rightfully so: businesses that survived 2020 and look forward to thriving in the second half of 2021 are actively harnessing the dynamic power of the agile workforce to get work done.

I recently had the pleasure of joining LiveHire and their Executive Vice President, Karen Gonzalez, for a webinar focused on the transformation of the agile workforce and why direct sourcing and talent pools represent a revolutionary means for businesses to transform the way they engage with and leverage top-tier, unique, and in-demand talent and skillsets. Check out an on-demand replay of the event below.

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Guiding Principles for The Future of Work

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceHRSolution ProvidersTalentTalent AcquisitionTechnology and Innovation by Featured Contributor on

[Editor’s Note: Today’s article is a guest contribution from Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix.]

When describing the Future of Work, it’s worth keeping in mind a quote from the sci-fi author William Gibson: “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”  Over the past two decades, we’ve all seen industries transformed by technology – travel agencies barely exist anymore, taxis are in a battle with Uber and Lyft for their very existence, and we can purchase virtually anything from groceries to cars online. Travel, transportation, commerce, and entertainment, have all become infinitely more frictionless (and often more affordable) experiences.

All of these examples occurred in established industries that had seen sustained success – and stagnation of technology and business innovation. Many players in those industries were utterly caught by surprise and got left behind. Their customers abandoned them, and why wouldn’t they? It’s not just the application of data and technology to solve problems that’s changed – our perceptions of what’s possible need to change as well.

For businesses to evolve from where they are today to where they aspire to be in the future, they must think and act differently. To help businesses realize their highest potential and deliver meaningful impact, they need new ways of building and managing a thriving workforce.

The world of hiring, and contingent hiring in particular, has been a world of silos and limited data for a long time. That’s led to a particular view of contingent hiring, one that’s full of inefficiencies and process issues. Ferrying data between an ATS, VMS, Talent CRM, and other solutions leads to leakage and an inability to treat hiring as a holistic process. As technology solutions continue to merge traditionally siloed functionality, a world of possibility is opened up for the future of work. Below are some of the principles that guide us at Prosperix, that we believe will create a future that leads to prosperity for all of the stakeholders in the hiring ecosystem.

  • Empowerment – This principle has two components. One is that a seamless candidate experience needs to be an integral part of the hiring process. We’re moving from a model where candidates are out of the loop to one where candidates feel like they are a part of the process, leading to better outcomes. Additionally, a commitment to foster equal and democratized access to opportunities and growth, while uplifting those in need of greater assistance, is the path to a future where everyone prospers.
  • Alignment – Alignment between hiring managers, talent acquisition teams, talent suppliers and candidates is enabled by technology solutions that unite formerly disparate systems. When stakeholders are not focused on solving process issues, they are able to think strategically about their hiring program.
  • Ecosystem – A culture and environment that fosters balance, sustainability and harmony amongst all stakeholders, with keen understanding that prosperity for each member benefits the whole and there is a necessary inter-dependency that requires a high level of compassion, cooperation and collaboration to thrive individually and collectively.
  • Diversity – Valuing diversity recognizes differences between people and acknowledges that these differences are not only a valued asset, but a necessity to achieving great results and outcomes. Diversity occurs when systems are designed thoughtfully to be inclusive and access is democratized, allowing anyone of any background and status to succeed and attain prosperity. Diversity can also provide greater choice and variety in options and opportunities.
  • Transparency – Transparency enables greater visibility, accountability and allows for fixing of inequities by sharing information openly amongst stakeholders. Fostering a transparent environment, as opposed to a siloed process structure, increases trust and partnership over time.
  • Flexibility – In a fast-changing world, there is greater need for solutions that are dynamic, agile, adaptive and can meet the needs of the moment by being responsive and nimble. Flexibility ensures that organizations can thrive in the most challenging of times because resilience and elasticity are designed-in as foundational elements.
  • Innovation – The world is changing exponentially. To stay relevant and thrive in this fast-changing dynamic, it is essential to embrace innovation. The right innovation is a tremendous catalyst for growth and prosperity as well as facilitates resilience from the ongoing turbulence of a constantly changing environment.

The future is already here, it’s just not everywhere yet. To learn more about our vision for the Future of Work, reach out to us at solutions@prosperix.com.

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The Hybrid Work Model is So Much More Than “Working From Home”

Business LeadershipDiversity and InclusionTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Look around at the typical news sources. Some of them are proclaiming doom for the vaunted “hybrid work model” in which businesses allow their workforce to work remotely several days a week while limiting in-office time. These same news sources and pundits were, not too long ago, singing the praises of the digital enterprise and its ability to adapt during unprecedented times. There’s no doubt that many business leaders crave a return to pre-pandemic times, when their devoted workers would trudge through awful commutes, sit through endless meetings, and deal with all of the Dilbert-like annoyances of life inside of an office.

However, it’s mid-2021…and workers have moved on both physically AND emotionally. Simply put: the hybrid work model is here to stay.

Some businesses might see the dramatic drop in coronavirus cases (even though the Delta variant is causing upticks and surges across the country) and a splurge of available vaccines as a ticket back to normalcy. “Normal,” as in “Let’s go to the pub down the street” or “Let’s catch a screening of “Space Jam,” sure, alright. “Normal,” as in “Let’s go to the office five days a week”? Nope.

Workers have had a near-18-month period in which they have not only been enabled with the ability to work from home (or anywhere with an internet connection), but also the very spirit of flexibility in how they approach their roles, projects, and overall workload. Businesses adapted to changing times, shifting how they measured productivity and the overall impact of their workforce. That flexibility has cascaded into how workers and business professionals structure their days, interact with their family, coordinate child care and related activities, and ultimately how they choose to apply their time across various projects and initiatives. Employee well-being has also rocketed up the priority list, with nearly 68% of businesses expected to integrate employee well-being into remote and hybrid workforce structures, according to upcoming Future of Work Exchange research. One of the many silver linings of the “greatest remote work experiment in history” was that so many business professionals now had the ability to incorporate exercise and well-being directly into their workday, choosing a mid-afternoon jog instead of a pre-commute run, or a late morning Peloton ride in-between video meetings.

Let’s forget, for a moment, that the hybrid work model is often centered around physical proximity and instead focus on mental energy. The hybrid work model is more than just telecommuting; it revolves around the notion that business leaders care about their workers and want them to be productive and happy. There is a symbiotic link between the talent experience and the hybrid work model that cannot be ignored ever again. With diversity and inclusion at its most important inflection period (and rightfully so, as a core component of the Future of Work movement), creating an “inclusive” culture and workplace translates into ensuring that employees are happy, healthy, and feeling welcomed by their peers and leaders. With so much of the Future of Work revolving around productivity and business outcomes, enterprise leaders must ensure that they are designing flexible work environments that allow an “elastic” means of getting work done, which includes a level of empathy and well-being in how they manage their total workforce.

While the media may be feeling pressure to report on the “Next Normal,” they are forgetting that the changes over the past year weren’t temporary, but rather fundamental shifts in how businesses operate moving forward. Nearly 90% of businesses, according to FOWX research, expect a sharp increase in remote work over the next 18 months. Furthermore, the expected percentage of workers operating in remote or hybrid environments is expected to double by the time 2021 ends, from 21% pre-pandemic to nearly 40% at the end of the year. The technologies and tools now available to even the smallest of businesses means that flexibility, collaboration, and productivity can all converge to result in positive business outcomes.

The hybrid model is more than working from home. It means being more available to family. It’s about being more engaged with one’s emotions and personal needs. It is the improvement in work-life balance and making work more meaningful. It means being both more productive and having an enhanced quality of life. It is, in essence, the Future of Work.

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Preparing for Tomorrow’s Workforce

Contingent WorkforceHRTalent by Featured Contributor on

[Editor’s Note: Today’s article is a guest contribution from Neha Goel, Vice President of Marketing at Utmost.]

Tomorrow’s workforce is changing at a pace we have not experienced in past decades. The pandemic expedited what was already happening in the market: emerging technologies leading to automation and digital transformations; the desire for flexibility in how and where people work; a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I); and globalization. It’s become clear organizations require a shift in how they think about and manage their entire workforce.

The Future of Work, which Ardent Partners defines as work optimization via the transformation of business operations, talent usage, seamless and comprehensive workforce management solutions, and flexible enterprise thinking, requires a change in how companies are tracking, managing, accessing, engaging, and reporting (i.e., spend, worker type, performance) on talent at an enterprise level.

Disparate systems make it difficult for companies to have visibility into their entire workforce. Even if an organization has a vendor management system (VMS) to track their contingent labor, they support as little as 10% of the total external workforce, which is now made up of project-based workers, freelancers, independent contractors, gig workers, and outsourced resources not captured in a VMS.

The Time is Now

As the non-employee utilization rate nears half of the total workforce (nearly 47% of the total workforce, according to Ardent), and more than 80% of large corporations planning on substantially increasing their use of a flexible workforce in the coming years, the time to prepare is now. The fastest-growing part of the workforce is the one that is currently not being tracked, which poses huge challenges for organizations.

This impacts activities like on/offboarding, classification, tenure, performance, payment, and reporting if only a portion of your total workforce is captured in your current ERP, VMS, and project-management tools. More importantly, it becomes impossible to assess and engage your total workforce in a scalable way without a single system of truth.

The Workforce is Changing

By 2025, 75% of the workforce will be made up of millennials — the most diverse group in American history, with 44.2% identifying as “non-white.” This should be a wake-up call for organizations who are not putting their DE&I initiatives at the top of their priority list. Having a platform that allows organizations to easily access, attract, retain, and report on diversity measures to meet their goals is crucial.

Millennials are also the first “digitally-native generation,” according to Pew Research, which means they expect to interact with work in the same way they interact in other aspects of their lives like ordering meals, rides, movies, and other services. They are demanding flexibility, engagement, diversity, career advancement, and a cultural fit regardless of how they are employed — be it full-time or contingent.

Future-Proof Technology

Together, all of these factors require organizations implement a technology platform built for the extended workforce. This can mean anything from connecting to new sourcing channels in an agile way to configurable back-end processes to managing distributed teams in a worker-centric way.

Utmost helps organizations fully engage and optimize their entire extended workforce. Built as a native application on the Workday Cloud Platform, Utmost provides a seamless experience for Workday customers to gain full visibility into their changing workforce composition, quality, and spend in an agile and scalable manner.

We believe the Future of Work is getting “the most from your all,” meaning the enterprise is getting the most out of its workforce, and talent has all the tools in place from their employer to bring their best selves to work. We believe this combination will set organizations, and their most significant competitive advantage, their talent, up for success.

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The “Digital Staffing and Talent Marketplaces Technology Advisor” is Now Available

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingDiversity and InclusionTalentTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Upcoming Future of Work Exchange research finds that 82% of all businesses state that the challenging times of 2020 created a bigger need for extended and non-employee talent. The past 18 months have clearly revealed that workforce scalability is an essential link to economic survival in the now-chaotic, hyper-competitive world of global business. Operationalizing that scalability is the very root of workforce agility, from which businesses can tap into talent pools, marketplaces, clouds, and communities to enhance how work is done, and support a range of services and other recruitment streams to build, in real time, a dynamic response to crucial enterprise initiatives.

It has long been our view that the teams that adeptly engage and leverage talent to support the evolving needs of the business will succeed above all others. As more and more enterprises have come to adopt that view, the development of an “agile workforce,” which represents the ability to engage non-employee talent and integrate it with the traditional workforce to improve the way work gets done, has become an important strategic goal. As a result, the digital and on-demand staffing technology market has grown considerably over the past several years.

Ardent Partners’ research has discovered that the utilization of “talent marketplace” solutions has increased more than 700% since 2015. As we proceed through a global pandemic, an uncertain corporate landscape has placed a premium on finding solutions that can drive alignment between dynamic enterprise requirements and available, vetted, and skilled talent. Enter “digital staffing,” that can enable hiring managers to tap into talent pools and on-demand talent networks while also supporting direct sourcing initiatives. These digital staffing marketplaces are the focus of this report.

(In its research and for the purposes of this report, Ardent Partners defines “marketplaces” as the enterprise-grade solutions that facilitate real-time and on-demand talent engagement with independent, freelance, or contract workers via a web-based network or portal. Talent marketplaces typically offer “white-glove” or high-touch talent management services (akin to Managed Service Providers) to help their clients source the best-fit talent for their project requirements as well as the automation of core workforce management processes (such as requisition management, talent pool development, and back-end financial operations).

The Future of Work Exchange is excited to announce the publication of the 2021 Digital Staffing and Talent Marketplaces Technology Advisor report is now available. The Technology Advisor is designed to help procurement, HR, human capital, and talent acquisition executives navigate the digital recruitment and talent marketplace landscape. This new report will assist executives and professionals understand this evolving solutions landscape and help them find, engage, and source top-tier talent and skillsets.

Download your copy of this critical new research study, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the new report, the digital staffing technology landscape, how to find the best-fit talent marketplace for your organization, etc.

 

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Welcome to the Future of Work Exchange (FOWX)!

General InsightsTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Future of Work Exchange!

This site is the culmination of decades of time spent researching and developing the strategies, tools, characteristics, and attributes that have come to define the Future of Work movement, including talent, technology, and business leadership. Powered by global research firm Ardent Partners, FOWX is a first-of-its-kind destination for HR, talent acquisition, procurement, IT, and finance executives focused on the convergence of talent and innovation and the impact that the extended workforce has on business operations and bottom-line performance. FOWX aims to help executive leaders across all enterprise functions optimize how work is done, build the best talent management strategies and programs, and understand the complex technology landscape.

Ardent Partners defines the Future of Work as the strategic optimization of how work gets done through 1) the evolution of talent engagement, 2) the advent of new technology and innovative tools, and 3) the transformation of business standards. Businesses across the globe believe that many significant Future of Work shifts will force them to reevaluate their current work standards, policies, and general practices. All aspects of the Future of Work Exchange will touch upon these ideas and assist business leaders become truly agile and dynamic organizations.

Over the coming years, community members can expect a non-stop stream of great content from our team (and guest contributors) on topics such as digital staffing, remote work and hybrid work models, contingent workforce management, blockchain, artificial intelligence, diversity and inclusion, empathy-led business leadership, direct sourcing, and much more. Our groundbreaking Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast will also be simulcast here on the FOWX.

This September, we will more formally launch the site and introduce a host multimedia assets on the “Exchange,” including exclusive research, conversations with HR, talent acquisition, procurement, etc. leaders that are challenging the status quo and advancing the Future of Work movement, as well as technology leaders that bring a wealth of insights to the evolving world of work.

The Future of Work Starts Here!

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With the Workforce at a Breaking Point, What is the Role of Agile Talent?

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The United States is at an interesting crossroads in relation to its total workforce: after historic unemployment and severe staffing disruption at a year ago at this time, most labor rates concerning FTEs would (typically) indicate that business is as close to a normal state. However, according to The Atlantic and stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “more Americans quit in May than any other month on record going back to the beginning of the century.”

A choice to move away from a steady, paying job in the midst of a global pandemic may not seem like the best of moves. Back in the earliest days of the crisis, I remember telling some close friends (as well as a family member) that were unhappy in their current roles to look past the undesirable aspects of their positions until there was more clarity regarding the continued effects of the pandemic on the global workforce. (Please note: in any other circumstance, I would never offer this once-in-a-lifetime sage advice, namely because I’m a proponent of the talent experience, employee engagement, and both contingent and full-time workers enjoying a positive familiarity with their roles and where they fit into their current organizations rather than gutting out and trudging along in a business that leaves them and their skillsets unfulfilled.)

The US is in an enviable state when compared to the rest of the world. The vast, vast majority of the country has removed coronavirus restrictions, dropped mask mandates (minus medical and specific facilities, as well as public transportation), and generally celebrating a return to normalcy (even though there are still hundreds of deaths daily and an average of ~10,000 new cases a day, but I digress). The culmination of 16 months’ worth of workforce evolution (not all of it positive) has left workers at an odd tipping point: they are not afraid to leave behind less-than-desirable roles anymore.

There are clear delineations in the overall perspectives of today’s workers that could have major ramifications in the months ahead. First off, the majority of businesses are slowly figuring out the best approach (be it hybrid, fully remote, etc.) for its workplace environment. This will surely affect how businesses view corporate real estate, and, to a larger extent, how they strategize around which modes of work result in the most productive business outcomes. Businesses are at a tipping point regarding the value of new work models; no one executive fully knows what is best for its organization after a year of uncertainty. These leaders must experiment and leverage various models until the one, screaming best result is there…and then adopt it for good.

One of the major reasons why the workforce is facing a “quitting crisis” is because so many workers became accustomed to a workplace culture that fostered empathy, flexibility, and evolving ways of measuring productivity. Going back to a 9-to-5 grind, including brutal commutes on both ends, isn’t going to cut it for those workers that thrived during the pandemic and know that their top-tier skills are in-demand. Furthermore, business leaders cannot suddenly shift their emotional attitudes from “supportive” to “drill sergeant” just because it’s safer to welcome workers back to office.

A major fallout from these aspects could be a “reawakening” to the value of the extended workforce vis a vie the realization that workers don’t need to be in the corporation’s backyard to have a critical impact, nor do talented workers have to stay put in an environment that they do not desire. Simply put: the move to remote work (and additional workplace flexibility) opened many doors for non-employee talent and its influence on how work gets done. Take direct sourcing, for example; more and more businesses were willing to invite larger numbers of candidates into their talent pools for the sheer purpose of planning for a future when things were better. When economic conditions recovered, hiring managers could scale up their workforce by tapping into talent communities or talent pools.

Agile talent will play a critical role in the future of the global workforce. Labor market data may look promising on the surface, however, digging deeper only uncovers the fact more and more workers will choose flexibility and independence over a return to pre-pandemic workplace culture. Contingent labor has always been a strategic asset, and, as it continued to evolve into a truly dynamic means of getting work done, the post-pandemic workforce will shine as a direct result of an increased reliance on agile talent.

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The World is Nearing Normalcy, But Will the Workforce Ever Be the Same?

Business LeadershipTalentTalent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on

In mid-June, CNN’s collaboration with Moody Analytics (the “Back-to-Normal Index”) indicated that the United States economy is “90% of the way back to where it was before the pandemic began over a year ago,” a stark contrast to the heartbreaking days of last spring and summer. Air travel and transportation are actively reaching pre-pandemic levels, while some markets indicate that the global economy could mirror February 2020 by the very end of the year.

Consumers are certainly taking advantage of the COVID-19 vaccine boom, spending more and more of their funds on the goods and services that were mainly out of the question less than a year ago. This activity, perhaps, is the strongest indicator that we are, albeit slowly, getting things back to some level of what we could call “normalcy.”

However, the pandemic and its ramifications left an indelible mark on the workforce; the below shifts represent the fact that even though some elements of the world and businesses may return to normal, the workforce will never be the same:

  • The next mass exodus of women from the workforce is happening right now. Back in March on the Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast, The Mom Project’s co-founder and COO, Greg Robinson, predicted that we may see another mass exodus of caretakers from the workforce, especially moms. And a Washington Post article found that after the early COVID shutdowns, nearly 11.3 million jobs held by women “vanished almost immediately, as women are over-represented in the retail, restaurant, travel and hospitality sectors.” Add in the need to be home without proper, in-person schooling, and this is a recipe for disaster for women in the workforce…something that could take upwards of two-to-three years to return to pre-pandemic levels. Companies like The Mom Project are certainly helping to alleviate this issue (check out our conversation this past week with the solution’s Donna Yelmokas), and the advent of digital staffing solutions and talent marketplaces are enabling moms and other caretakers access to roles that fit within their schedules. However, it is also incumbent on today’s business leaders to cultivate a culture that is founded on flexibility and empathy to get back to those pre-pandemic points even faster and allow women, moms, and caretakers to bring their incredibly valuable skills back to the workplace.
  • And, speaking of flexibility and empathy, business leadership will never be the same. As the world evolves into a “new normal” (or whatever you want to call it), both longtime FTEs and extended/contingent workers are going to place evermore emphasis on the overall “talent experience,” a concept borne from an application of employee engagement and employee experience attributes applied to both employee and non-employee workers. Aspects like remote work, flexible hours, and an inclusive culture are all critical concepts for talented individuals seeking their next role (be it a full-time or contingent project). Business leaders must look to a “culture of flexibility” as the foundation to how they lead. Ardent’s upcoming State of Contingent Workforce Management 2021 research study also finds that 82% of businesses will provide more flexibility regarding worker lifestyle issues, including childcare/daycare, schooling, etc., in the year ahead.
  • “Alternative” channels of talent become primary means of talent engagement. Even though direct sourcing and talent pools were high-priority strategies going into 2020 (and before a worldwide pandemic), they became even more crucial when traditional means of talent acquisition (such as proper interviewing) weren’t possible. Today, direct sourcing represents an ideal means of converging top-tier skillsets and expertise and on-demand talent engagement in the same package, allowing businesses to funnel the best-of-the-best into segmented talent pools and talent communities. Too, the talent nurture aspects of direct sourcing enable businesses to foster strong communication with their candidates, ensuring a positive candidate experience even before these workers are engaged for a particular role or project. The “next normal” will see an exponential rise in the utilization of direct sourcing, for sure.
  • New and evolved work models form the foundation of the Future of Work movement. This all-encapsulating concept brings together the brightest of innovation from learnings over the past year, and the approach is multi-pronged: 1) understand which modes of talent engagement are best for the business based on the levels of skillsets required, 2) apply an analysis that can determine whether positions, roles, and entire divisions should be distributed/remote, 3) innovate around how productivity will be measured (with an edge towards outcomes rather than hours worked), 4) implement whichever new safety and health precautions that are required (which, yes, includes whether or not COVID-19 vaccinations are mandatory), 5) foster and cultivate a workplace environment of flexibility and empathy, and, finally, 6) determine the best possible alignment between digitization and human-led processes.
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Continuing its Unlimited Evolution, PRO Unlimited Announces Acquisition by EQT Partners

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingDiversity and InclusionHRProcurementSolution ProvidersTalentTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Earlier this week, contingent workforce management (CWM) solution PRO Unlimited announced that it has partnered with EQT Partners, who will acquire the company from Harvest Partners and Investcorp. When the acquisition officially closes in the second half of 2021, EQT Private Equity will be the majority shareholder, with Harvest Partners continuing as a large shareholder and management retaining a minority stake in the company.

This major transaction follows a year of aggressive market activity by the veteran MSP and VMS suite of solutions, which has undergone a seismic transformation since mid-2020. A longtime leader in the CWM technology arena, PRO continues to deliver on its promise to reimagine the end-to-end offerings of its core services and automation and become a true “platform” for agile workforce management activity.

“The team at EQT has been following the macro trends around the world of talent and work. They, much like us, see the contingent workforce segment growing at a rapid rate and becoming more and more strategic,” said Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of PRO Unlimited. “PRO was uniquely positioned here because we have the technology, the data, the analytics, coupled with the people / service assets in place, which has been a cornerstone of our MSP business, to not only satisfy the elements of what enterprises need today to manage their agile talent, but also having all of those critical elements inside the same platform.”

In several discussions with Akeroyd over the past several months, PRO’s CEO outlined an assertive range of objectives that mainly included a technological revamp, more dedicated offerings within the diversity and inclusion arena, and on-demand facilitation of data, intelligence, and workforce agility. The acquisition by EQT will allow PRO’s executive team to capitalize on an evolving market while enabling quicker time-to-market for burgeoning offerings for SOW/services procurement and direct sourcing, as well as its unique RatePoint solution.

“This is going to allow PRO to do what we want to do much faster and on a larger, global stage,” Akeroyd told CPO Rising. “EQT didn’t come here to change us or alter the fundamentals of who we are or what we want to accomplish. The vision that we had last year (becoming an end-to-end platform for all things contingent labor) can be realized much quicker with the investment from EQT.”

Historically, PRO Unlimited has not been known for major M&A activity, but that line of thinking changed when Akeroyd joined the organization last year, setting off a string of market-shifting moves that positioned the veteran solution for a major transformation in the months afterwards.

“Our organization went nearly 30 years without a major acquisition. It wasn’t until recently [Editor’s note: PRO acquired PeopleTicker and the Brainnet Group in 2020 and 2021, respectively] that the company started to shift its acquisition strategy,” Akeroyd said. “With EQT as a partner, we can accelerate M&A activity much more aggressively. If we need to buy, we can do that. If we need to build, they’ll support us. And we’ll have the power to partner with those solutions that are complementary to PRO’s end-to-end suite.”

The acquisition is certainly timely, as upcoming Ardent Partners research finds that the agile workforce continues to grow in size, impact, utilization, and prominence: nearly 47% of the average organization’s total workforce is now considered “extended” or “non-employee,” reinforcing the notion that businesses require more comprehensive, dynamic tools to effectively converge traditional aspects of contingent workforce management with the deeper elements (such as direct sourcing, services procurement, etc.) required to maximize the inherent value of the agile workforce.

“The contingent workforce is going to lead the economic recovery. If you look at the numbers and employment data regarding traditional workers and FTEs, they aren’t going up…but the agile workforce is,” said Akeroyd. “The Global 2000 enterprise is alive and well, and they’re largely thriving in this market due to their reliance on white-collar, remote, highly-skilled extended talent. PRO is enabling the average enterprise to achieve this level of success on the contingent workforce front; we are a leader in this solutions industry and what EQT has done is allow us to be a bigger, more impactful part of how businesses harness the power of their agile workforce across the globe.”

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